It was truly a great atmosphere out there today! Hearing the various speakers and the crowd and the honking gave me momentary feelings of warmth that for a split second allowed me to not think about how cold it was in front of the courthouse.

And I agree that it was good to see a lot of young people there. (Had a group from my school's GSA there and one of them even got to speak (well) at the mic) And good to see other straight people there, because I believe it is the straight people who are going to make a difference in the struggle for LGBTQ rights in this nation.

I thought tax-exempt churches weren't supposed to be able to do political campaigns... I just saw Keith Olbermann's comment on this; he looked as pissed-off as I have ever seen him. Made a lot of sense, too, in my opinion. Out here in California we got sort of a surprise when our recall-elected governator came out and called for gay marriage activists to "never give up" and compared their struggle to his own experience lifting weights. That, governor, is called "empathy", and I didn't know you had any. Shows you what I know. Maybe (almost) everyone has empathy. Or maybe Maria has been kicking his ass? -Doug in Oakland

Great speech! I blogged about this on Show Me Progress, but I'll repeat it here. Strange that on a day that was organized in response to another depressing defeat, the mood was more celebratory and hopeful than angry and depressed. But that's a good thing, because we're still a lot closer today to equality than we have been for decades.

Joan and I were there at today's Impact rally at New York City Hall with the sign we'd made featuring our 2004 Massachusetts license. Along with around 4,000 other folks, mostly in the 20s-40s range, we squeezed into a few fairly tight pens under the watchful eye of quite a few (very nice) police officers while we listened to the usual mix of politicians, political activists (with or without spouse, partner, betrothed, or family) poets, and folks from Broadway. Frankly, I was a little surprised by the lack of outrage or irony: less than a generation from AIDSACT UP and it's all very positive spin and "Yes we can." I'm very glad that we were there, and am grateful to the organizers who have put in so much time and work and to my fellow demonstrators. But for my money, the best part was waving our signs and shouting "Write my name in the book of love" at the open-air tour buses.

I am a straight black woman who believes that marriage is a civil matter. I don't live in a state that had an opportunity to vote on this issue though there was a protest here yesterday. A question and a comment.

How is it possible that folks can vote on whether or not people are to have basic civil rights? Imagine if during the struggle for black civil rights we had allowed southern whites to decide on our rights to equal access.

Having said that, however, I am disturbed and angered by the scapegoating of African Americans concerning the defeat of Proposition 8. As long as people are voting on the topic, the way to bring voters to your side is not by using racial slurs. It is also a slap in the face of AA gays who support the issue. Racist whites are racist whites whether they are gay or straight.

The New York Times reported today that "Weird though it may be, gays were the sole minority group that actually voted slightly more Republican this year (though still going Democratic by 70 to 27 percent). Pitting blacks and Latinos against them could open up a whole new bloody front in the G.O.P. civil war." Let's not fall into the trap.

Seeing and hearing about all the protests so far, I'm so happy to see it happening on such a grand scale with a wonderful diversity of people. I heard that there was several Mormons in Salt Lake City who rallied against Prop. 8 as well.

Hey ABB! I'm here in Chicago and was here for the rally/protest against prop 8's passage. I have to say how shocked I am that untaxed organizations like the Church of latter day assholes, I mean, Saints, can have a voice so powerful that it overpowers tax payers...There was a lot of tax resistance talk at the protest. Maybe it's time we go all "Civil Disobedience" on our government?

I just keep telling myself that this is all irrelevant since for any such matter to be added to a states constitution, it has to be voted on...I can't imagine that after that national outcry against this prop. that state senators and reps would vote to make this a constitutional amendment. But, then again, we've seen crazier shit go down.

Anon, I am sorry that some in the LGBT community started the racist blame game.

To my mind, campaign strategy and results reflected both the common black misconception and the common white gay obliviousness that "gay is a white thing". As I understand it, there wasn't systematic and early attention brought to explaining the case against 8 in black oriented media (newsweeklies, radio stations) and black community fora (open meetings, etc) and no early identification of black activists and spokespeople for reaching the community. You can't expect people to vote your way if you don't contact them and give them reasons.

I do blame any black pastors who used the LGBT issue and Prop 8 to whip up a righteous feeling among the flock. If pastors want to say that same-gender love is wrong, well, it is a free country - but I feel that they should do so in proportion to the issue's prominence in the Bible, which is to say, less than once a year. We have enough other sins - gossip and lies, adultery, anger, intended cruelty to family, sloth, greed and gluttony, etc - that need attention. Disproportionately focusing on SGL/LGBT acts seems like a low scheme to avoid offending the majority of donors with other sins.

As for congregants - they need to hear other voices, so we (white LGBTs) need to support the black LGBTs willing to speak to kin and community.

I do believe that Blogger "word verification" is giving me a message. Its word of the moment is "coping". ;)

International Transgender Day of RemembranceSt. Louis Candlelight Vigil: THURSDAY NOV. 20 @ 7:30 PMWashington University in St. Louis, South 40 ClocktowerReception to follow in The Gargoyle in Mallinkrodt Center

Come together to mourn the people murdered in the past year due to anti-transgender violence. Hear the stories of people who were killed and help raise awareness about violence against those with differing gender identities and gender expressions. Through the vigil, we express love and respect for people in the face of national indifference and hatred. Several St. Louis religious leaders will be present to speak, but the event is not inherently religious. There will also be a discussion about the types of discrimination and hardships that transgender people face today.

Following the meeting at the South 40 clocktower, we will then proceed into into The Gargoyle in Mallinkrodt Center where our guests will speak.

Open to all and wheelchair accessible. If you have questions, or need more information, email pridewu AT gmail DOT com.

To reach the clocktower, turn onto Shepley Drive from Big Bend. This is the entrance to the South 40 on the western side. A parking garage is hidden behind the dorms on the left; there is also a smaller parking lot on the right. From there, walk east along Shepley Drive until you see the small, green clocktower near Ursa's Cafe.

The South 40 Clocktower is also walking distance from the Big Bend Metro stop.